Costs of School District's ERP Mess Approach $30 Million Mark

BRADENTON – The total cost of a district-wide software upgrade was stated at under $10 million when the Manatee School Board initially approved its much-maligned Enterprise Resource Planning project. The public is now being told that costs have topped $27 million and could continue to climb.

While other publications had been reporting the cost in the $19-20 million range, TBT noted when the scandal broke in August that such estimates did not include district staff costs and conservatively estimated the cost at over $22 million.

The bug-riddled integration–which finally went live on July 1, more than 18 months behind schedule–has seen overtime costs continue to push the final bill upward.

Manatee County School Board Chair Scott Hopes recently said that the cost is closer to $27 million, with maintenance contracts, licensing fees, salaries and other costs added.

The school board will receive its next update at its November 13 workshop, but not before voters decide on whether Hopes gets to stay on the board during Tuesday's election.

Hopes, who has vast executive experience in the medical field, questioned both the scope of the massive project and whether the district was properly staffed to oversee its implementation since being appointed by the governor last year to fill the vacancy created by board member Karen Carpenter's retirement. He told TBT in August that the scope of the project had been dramatically increased without required board approval, to the point where the district not only didn't need many of the modules that were added but couldn't even implement them if it wanted to.

Hopes is being challenged by Joe Stokes, who previously served as the district's head of elementary schools under former superintendent Tim McGonegal.

The ERP program was initiated by former Superintendent Diana Greene, who said she could get it done for around $9.8 million, despite internal disputes over whether that figure was realistic. After the resignation of Deputy Superintendent Don Hall, who did not back Greene's estimate, Ron Ciranna was brought on to oversee the project. Ciranna recently "retired" while on suspension, as the district investigated more than $100,000 in unauthorized spending related to the project.

Greene left for a superintendent job in Duval County the day before the ERP went live. Her top deputy, Cynthia Saunders, was installed as interim superintendent and was reportedly told by Ciranna on day one that the project, already $10 million over-budget, would require at least $2 million more to continue implementation.

Saunders balked and an outside investigation was conducted leading to two more administrators being put on administrative leave–chief information technology officer Robert Malloy, and ERP project manager Angie Oxley. Malloy has since resigned. The Florida Auditor General and Florida Department of Law Enforcement are also investigating the debacle.